Always
by Rare Collection
Summary: Lizzie, Miranda, and Gordo have grown apart... can they find friendship again?
1. Prologue

_(Disclaimer : I don't own Lizzie McGuire, etc. etc. etc.  But I think everyone should be able to figure that out since this is a fan fiction site… *nods*)_

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**Chapter One – Prologue**

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High school.

High school is where teens undergo many big changes in their life, and learn many of life's most important lessons.  No matter which of the many paths you take, you are bound to change, whether for better or for worse.  And you are sure to lose out once in awhile.  Sometimes, friends may not be forever.

So it seemed was the case when Lizzie McGuire, Miranda Sanchez, and David Gordon started their first year at Hillridge High.

Before high school, the trio had been best friends, inseparable.  All had been determined to stay that way forever, to never lose their friendship.  But when they got to high school, things began to change.

Lizzie again tried out for the cheerleading squad, and made it.  With her new position on the squad, her social status soared.  All of the popular kids liked her, even Kate.  She got more attention from the popular guys.  Lizzie had finally gotten what she had been wanting for years.

Miranda, on the other hand, had gotten into the performing arts, joining both the drama club and the school choir.  Most of her time was spent doing either of these activities, and she began to make friends in her new group.

With the girls slowly drifting away, Gordo became more enveloped in his school work than ever.  His time was spent with the other academic overachievers, and he was always hard at work on something.  He also became more involved in film making.

So the three slowly drifted apart from each other.  They would smile at each other in the halls, say hello, but they were no longer best friends… the special bond they had shared was gone.

**(A/N: This is my first fan fic… reviews please! =D )**


	2. So Overrated

**Chapter Two – So Overrated**

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Lizzie sighed as she opened her locker.  Her boyfriend of 3 months, Ryan, had just broken up with her.  He wanted too much, too fast, and she did not feel ready for that.  So he had dumped her.  _Oh well.  At least being popular hasn't cost me my dignity._

_But it has cost me a lot more.  _She bit her lip, her mind racing.  There was an empty place in her heart, as much as she didn't want to admit it.  There had been since four years ago, when she had started high school.  She had thought that being popular would be the greatest thing in the world, that the popular kids had no problems.  But for some odd reason, she had preferred wanting to be popular, rather than actually being popular.

She gazed at herself in the mirror on her locker for a moment.  It had become a daily ritual.  Every time she looked in the mirror, she began to wonder why she had changed herself so much, and deeply regretted it all.  Her face was covered in make-up, so much that it felt like she were wearing a mask.  Her clothes were extremely revealing, and tight in all the right places.  More than that, the changes went past skin-deep.  She had become very shallow, and outwardly cold.  She carried with her an air of superiority, the same attitude she had once hated so much about Kate.

_I **am Kate.**_ She realized with dismay.  _I'm nothing more than a little Kate clone.  My so-called friends only like me for my looks and my status.  Nobody really likes me for who I am._

She felt another sharp pang in her heart.

_I remember in junior high… I went through so many tough times.  But I always had Miranda and Gordo there to help me through.  We did everything together._

Tears began to well up in her eyes.

_I wonder if they ever miss me._

The tears were flowing gently down her face, and she sniffed, wiping her face with the back of her hand.  She knew what the empty feeling was.

_I miss them.  I had the two greatest friends in the world, and I blew it.  And for what?  Look at me…_

She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to regain her composure.  Her face was wet with tears, and she shook as she drew in a deep breath.

_It's no use now, I guess.  They probably hate me by now._

The thought made her feel even more dejected.  Lost in thought, she heard the bell for class ringing faintly in her ears.  Forcing herself to clear her mind, she gathered her things.

_Being popular is so overrated._


	3. The Drama Queen

**Chapter Three – The Drama Queen**

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"I thought… that we'd always be friends..."  Miranda's voice rang across the auditorium as she spoke these words, gazing soulfully at the actor standing before her.

"And we always will be-"

"No, things have changed!  I don't even know you anymore…"

"Cut!"  Came the director's voice.  "Very good Dan, Miranda!  We'll stop for right there today.  Be sure to look over your lines before rehearsal again tomorrow."

With that, Miranda grabbed her water bottle and plopped herself down on the edge of the stage.  It had been a good rehearsal, she thought.  And she really liked the storyline… it was about a guy and a girl who had been best friends for a long time, but eventually stopped hanging out.  It was years later, when they met by chance, that they found their friendship again, plus a little more.

She felt a slight twinge in her stomach.  This was a feeling she got often, sometimes for no apparent reason.  But especially lately, since they had been working on this play.

"Hey Miranda!"  Julia called, interrupting her thoughts.  "We're headed off to the café.  Wanna join us?"

She smiled slightly, and shook her head.  "No thanks… I need to be heading home in a minute."

"All right then.  See you tomorrow!"

The group left, and for some reason Miranda didn't really care that they were going somewhere without her.  Normally, she would have felt left out, but since – since when?  She began to swing her legs about lightly, her mind wandering.

Why did she feel that these people weren't true friends?  A small sigh escaped, as memories came flowing back.  _Oh yeah, that's why.  She remembered several occasions when they had all planned to do something, but they had then ditched her when she arrived 5 or so minutes late.  She began to think about how while she was the most popular girl in the drama club right now, it always changed depending on who had the lead.  And when Miranda didn't have the lead, she was a nobody._

_I have become just like them._

She could feel her face fall at the realization, and she struggled to try and convince herself otherwise.

_Nonsense… I'm nothing like them… after all, I'm the one sitting here right now, thinking about how much I hate being part of the drama group._

But as much as she tried to tell herself that it wasn't so, she knew the truth.

_I wonder if… Lizzie ever dislikes being popular?_

The pang in her heart returned, as her former best friend's name echoed in her mind.

_I miss Lizzie.  And Gordo too.  What ever happened between us?_

_Oh well.  It's too late now, I guess…_

She could feel the empty place in her heart, the place that only Lizzie and Gordo, her two real best friends, could fill.  But there was no chance that they'd still want to be her friend, anyways.  Was there?

_Who needs them anyways?_

She tried to convince herself of that, but it was no use.  The tears began to flow freely down her face, and she couldn't stop them.  And for a while, she let them come.

Finally, she stood up and gathered her things.  Shouldering her backpack, she made her way out of the auditorium, and started her walk home.


	4. Seeing Beneath

**Chapter Four – Seeing Beneath**

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Eighteen year old David Gordon took his seat in English class, near the back of the room.  As usual, he was one of the first people to class.

Larry Tudgeman came in and sat beside him, and the two chatted for a few minutes.  Gordo and Larry had become friends after high school had begun, sharing a common obsession with school.

The bell rang, and the teacher quieted the class.  As she took attendance, Gordo's attention traveled to the forms of his two former best friends, Lizzie McGuire and Miranda Sanchez.  They both looked rather upset today, he mused.  Other people probably wouldn't have noticed, but the three had been so close for so long, that Gordo could still recognize the slightest shifts in their moods.

He sighed softly, wishing that he were back in junior high.  He missed his two best friends, missed having the girls outnumber him, missed having them drag him along to boring chick flick movies.  They both seemed to have changed so much, but he could see beneath it all.  They were the same Lizzie and Miranda that he had always known.

And Lizzie.

In junior high, he had come to think of Lizzie as more than just a friend, even though it was plain that she didn't see him that way.

_Well, maybe at the end of the year…_

He smiled, remembering how she had kissed him on the cheek at the last moment in the 8th grade photo.

He still loved her.  There was no denying it.  Even though they had stopped hanging out, he still loved her more than he had ever loved anyone before.

But it was no use.  The three of them would probably never be more than casual acquaintances again, he realized.


	5. An Important Day

**Chapter Five – An Important Day**

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"And don't forget that your report is due tomorrow, April 11." Lizzie's history teacher announced, and the class groaned in unison.

_April 11.  Now why does that ring a bell?_

She thought hard, but by the end of the period she had still drawn no conclusions.

_I'm probably just freaked out about the paper that's due tomorrow._

But at the end of the day, as she walked home, the nagging feeling was still there.  As soon as she reached her house, she hurried upstairs from her room, and pulled out all of her old diaries.

She began to search through them, looking at every April 11 before.  Nothing significant in her junior year… sophomore year… freshmen… But her eyes widened as she read the entry from her 8th grade year.

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_April 11, 2002___

_The fight between me, Miranda, and Gordo is finally over, and I am so glad.  A week is way too long to go without speaking to either of your best friends.  They told me that they had felt the same.  This led us to come up with an idea… we each picked something that was valuable to us, something that would bring back positive memories about our friendship.  We put our items in a wooden box, sealed it, and buried it beneath the big oak tree in the park, near the fountain.  We have agreed that in exactly four years, on this very same day during our senior year, we will meet at the tree at __midnight__ and open the box…_

_- Lizzie_

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Lizzie smiled through her tears.

_This must be my record… crying twice in the same day._

She read through the diary entry again.

_Tomorrow I'll have to tell Gordo and Miranda.  I wonder if they will still come?_


End file.
